Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, is poised to enter a partnership with messaging giant Telegram, aiming to integrate its Grok chatbot onto the platform for its more than one billion users.
As part of the proposed deal, xAI is set to invest $300 million in a combination of cash and stock to directly integrate its AI-powered chatbot into Telegram’s application. This move is intended to leverage Telegram’s vast user base and strengthen xAI’s position in the highly competitive AI sector.
Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, announced the one-year partnership, which also incorporates a revenue-sharing model. Under this agreement, Telegram will receive 50 percent of all subscription revenues generated through its app that are related to Grok’s services.
Addressing potential privacy concerns, Durov emphasized that xAI will only access information that users explicitly share with Grok during their direct interactions with the chatbot, thereby ensuring user data remains protected.
This collaboration comes at a time when AI firms are increasingly seeking high-quality data to train and enhance their models. With many open-source data sources becoming saturated, companies like Meta Platforms have begun leveraging public user interactions for AI development.
It remains unclear whether xAI will utilize Telegram data in a similar fashion for broader training. According to its privacy policy, X—the social media platform acquired by xAI earlier this year—uses public user posts to train its AI systems.
xAI has also pursued multiple partnerships this year to expand its presence in both AI infrastructure and financial services, signaling its ambitious plans within the technology landscape.
Neither xAI nor Telegram offered immediate further comments on the deal when approached by Reuters. However, Elon Musk has since clarified that a formal deal has not yet been signed, though Durov indicated that the parties have reached an agreement in principle, with only formalities remaining.
